1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computer, and more particularly, to a display unit of a portable computer.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In general, a liquid crystal display (LCD) device used for a computer such as a portable computer or for a portable display is shown in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 1, the LCD device includes a liquid crystal panel 20, a back light unit, and a driving circuit board 23. The back light unit is comprised of a luminescent lamp 11, a lamp housing 12 having a U-shape and surrounding the lamp 11, a light guide 13, a reflector 14 reflecting the incident light from the horizontal direction to the vertical direction, a protection sheet 15 contacting the light guide 13, a first prism sheet 16 and a second prism sheet 17 set on the protecting sheet 15 and condensing the incident light from the light guide 13 to some direction, a diffuser 18 diffusing the light from the first and second prisms 16 and 17 to a viewing area 21 of the liquid crystal panel 20 with a certain viewing angle, and a first support frame 19 supporting these elements.
FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the light-guiding plate showing a gradual thickness decrease in cross-section as it extends away from the light source 11. A fluorescent lamp 11 as the light source is fixed at a thicker end of the light-guiding plate 13. When the fluorescent lamp 11 is turned on, the light 23 from the source 11 is reflected by the lamp housing 12 surrounding the fluorescent lamp 11. The reflected light transmits through the cross-section towards the other side (thinner end) of the light-guiding plate 13 as indicated by the arrows. Then, the light spreads all over the surface of the light-guiding plate 13 and reaches the display area 21 (FIG. 1) through the diffusion plate 18. At the same time, a thin film transistor formed on the liquid crystal panel controls a corresponding pixel according to the signals from the driving circuit 30 (FIG. 1) to selectively transmit the light which collectively realizes the display of images on the display area.
The liquid crystal display is usually combined with, for example, a notebook computer as an output screen. The following method is used to fix the liquid crystal display to a device such as a notebook computer.
Referring to FIGS. 3a and 3b, in a conventional liquid crystal display, a ground supporting plate 30 is disposed on the first fastening frame 19. A mounting hole 33 is formed through the ground supporting plate 30 and the first fastening frame 19, as shown in FIG. 3b. Then, the ground supporting plate 30 and the first fastening frame 19 are fixed by a screw 31 as shown in FIG. 3a. In other words, a liquid crystal display is fixed to a device such as a notebook computer so as to fasten the first fastening frame 19 and the ground supporting plate 30 by a fastening element such as a screw.
However, the liquid crystal display becomes thicker due to the length of the screw according to the method as shown in FIGS. 3a and 3b. Moreover, since the mounting hole 33 for the screw is formed on the front surface of the liquid crystal display, the display area of the liquid crystal display becomes narrow.
According to the structure described above, the LCD device operates as follows. The light from the luminescent lamp 11 is incident on the rear surface of the liquid crystal panel 20 through the back light unit. A control circuit placed on the driving circuit board 30 controls the incident light on the viewing area 21 of the liquid crystal panel 20 to display images and characters.
FIG. 4 is a drawing showing a plan view of the final assembly structure of the conventional liquid crystal display device. FIG. 4 also shows the assembled result of a second support frame 40, liquid crystal panel 20 and back light unit having an assembly structure for mounting to a portable computer. The second support frame 40 is made of metal or plastic, and holds the liquid crystal panel 20 and the back light unit. Here, the driving circuit board 23 is located behind the rear part of the back light unit connected to the liquid crystal panel 20 with a flexible film (not shown).
FIG. 5 shows the assembly structure of the liquid crystal panel 20 and body 60 of the portable computer in the conventional method. The second support frame 40 is mounted to a rear case 50 of the portable computer using screws 43 through screw holes 41. A front case (not shown) having a blank area adjusted to the viewing area is joined at the rear case 50. That is, the liquid crystal panel 20 is mounted with the rear case 50 by the screws 43 locked in the normal direction of the display surface through the screw holes 41 formed on that surface. Although not shown in the drawings, the front case is mounted on the LCD device, opening the viewing area 21 and covering the other parts.
In general, as the size of the portable computer is designed for easy movement, the same goes for an A4 copy sheet, for example. Therefore, the ratio of the viewing area to the whole surface area of the display and the thickness of the display device affect the quality of the portable computer. However, in a conventional portable computer, screw holes 41 are located on edge portions of the display surface in order to join the second support frame 40 to the rear case 50. As the display area has a screw frame area 42 (FIG. 4) for forming the holes 41, the ratio of the area of the LC panel to the viewing area 21 is reduced.
Furthermore, in the conventional portable computer, as the screws 43 are locked to the liquid crystal display device and the rear case 50 in the normal direction of the display surface, the display part is thick enough to form an assembly device 51 for the screws 43, such as screw holes 41. The second support frame 40 is also large enough to have a space for supporting the screw holes 41. Thus, it is difficult to reduce the weight of the portable computer.
Accordingly, a liquid crystal device is needed having a high viewing ratio of the display, low weight, and reduced thickness for a computer, such as a portable computer.